Odo324/Gaming History

Game Biography :: It's an Awkward Life

Goal

What games have impacted my life, and why.

Result

Why I like the Unreal Engine.

Feel free to comment between paragraphs!

"If it wasn't for video games, I'd be a farmer!"

- odo324

The Early Years

Part 1: Introduction of the NES

It all started with my dad's friend. He bought a NES from the Get-Go and also had a 16 color adventure game on his computer (a guy going up and down elevators collecting items, what was it called?). The PC Game was fun, but I usually played the Legend of Zelda instead.

At this time, a true ‘adventure’ game had yet to be created. The Legend of Zelda was more like a ‘hack and slash’ and ‘collect items along the way’ game. The overhead map was often misleading. It was useless unless you remembered the available routes ahead-of-time. A storyline was non-existent. You had a reason to kill the evil and that was it.

So what was so great about it? It was the first adventure game for the NES. Nothing like it had ever been produced before that (at least, for the NES). The player could finally use magical items to aid in their journey. And the music was catchy; very adventure-ish, IMHO. Finally, the bosses were changeling and fun. Unlike the tiny standard enemies, the bosses were much more dynamic... not brain-dead and easy.

Part 2: the Dragon Warrior

And God looked down upon the child and said, "Let him learn about Character Stats!" And it was done.

My first true love? Dragon Warrior! My parents bought me the "Nintendo Power Magazine" deal that came with it. The game was a big surprise to all of us. The game was meant to be a Christmas surprise, but my parents didn't know it would all be packaged and mailed together. Plus, it came with a cool DW poster! Yay, dragons!

It was weird. I got my Magazine and DW game much earlier than my Nintendo. In fact, three months before I could play it!

Part 3: The Nintendo Entertainment System

So God looked down upon the child and said, "Oh shoot! I almost forgot..."

And for Christmas, I finally got a Nintendo ©, which came with Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt. Woohoo! Plus, I got "Bases Loaded" (a baseball game), too boot. They were nice games, but in all three, gameplay was limited and replay value was very minimal.

Part 3: The 3 of 3’s

Mega Man 3

So the child spent many hours within 4~6 feet from his console, as far as the controller would allow. And God said to himself, "How much of this is he actually going to remember?"

I'm not sure, but I might have received Mega Man 3 on a Christmas as well. I believe my love (today) for technology steams from that one game. My first (?) Nintendo Power magazine featured that game as well. I remember staring at the mega man cut-away 'schematic' for the longest time, wondering how it could all work. And thus... my youthful passion for androids was born.

Especially in middle school, I drew a lot of android/robots based on the artistic style of the Mega Man games. Many of which I still have today.

Dragon Warrior III

The lord saw the boy's gaming habits and said, "You must learn the ways of the sacred RPG!"

Somehow, after what seemed like the longest time, I got Dragon Warrior III. DW1 taught me what an RPG is, but DW3 taught me how a basic idea can be expanded to the point of pure genius! This game was my tried and true love of the NES. Every couple of years, I'll load up an NES emulator and play it again; to refresh my memory. And every time I play it, I have a strong desire to recreate it with today’s technology!

Remember, roman numerals? I learned them without ever realizing it (until it was too late).

"Rocky V + Rocky II = Rocky VII: Adrian's Revenge!" – Bart Simpson

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"DW I + DW II = DW III: Zoma's Revenge!" – Me ;p

Super Mario Bros 3

This was a welcome addition to the SMB series. I owned SMB1, but gameplay was dull and vaguely interesting. I didn’t find SMB2 appealing, at the time, since it strayed away from the original SMB concept. This time around, gameplay was improved by the addition of very unique power-ups and special abilities! The game didn’t make ‘improvements’ to the original style, it expanded it by adding completely new elements! Also, unlike SMB 1, this game made much better use of color and space!

Part 5: The Legend of Zelda... Again

Remember my Dad’s friend I mentioned earlier? He eventually GAVE me his game . Although, I think it was because he bought the gold collectors version.

Part 6: The Rentals

Star Tropics, Super Mario Bros 2, Final Fantasy, Double Dragon II, The Legend of Zelda II, Crystalis, Disney’s Duck Tails, Ultima, Darkwing Duck, Battle Toads, Punch Out, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Where in Time is Carmen Santiago?, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3.

The Legend of Zelda II

My first thought was, huh... It was so different; I seriously thought I’d picked up the wrong game. It appeared less colorful then the original game (and I never liked playing ugly games). Battles constantly seem odd; it was just a side version of the original’s hack-and-slash system. I constantly thought to my self, “Why doesn’t Link just step to the side?” That plagued me through the entire game. This time around, clues were required to proceed past certain points in the game. However, I often found myself traveling back and forth through towns, trying to find an unknown ‘trigger’.

Crystalis

This game created a good mix of “punk” and “medieval” styles. It definitely was different and unusual. The battle system was very much like the original Legend of Zelda. Thankfully, sprites could finally move diagonally, and movement wasn’t restricted to a grid. However, they never got the collision detection to work well. At times, it was often difficult to attack, without getting touched. Unfortunately, I was never able to beat this game (I don’t think). AI difficulty wasn’t the issue, though. Traveling often ended in a best-guess of which direction to go. I ended up just ‘wandering’ around until I finally found what I was looking for. The color pallet used in the game was, different. It seemed limited, but I think that was just the style that the developers wanted.

Middle Section (Needs a better title!)

Part 1: The ‘Super’ Nintendo Entertainment System

Again, a Christmas present. Naturally, it just came with Super Mario World. This game had little differences in gameplay, when compared to SMB3. Yoshi was just an extension of Mario’s power-up abilities and provided no significant improvements in gameplay. The return of the Koopa Kids was neat though. With the SNES’s improved graphics, we could finally battle a really good representation of the enemies. And the color was amassing! In the end, this game was just a polished version of the same-old-thing. Really nice, but really repetitive!

Part 2: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Before I got the game, I had Nintendo Power’s strategy guide that included a 2 page map of the over world. I was immediately blown away by the sheer size and use of colors! With the improved graphics and the classic style gameplay, I was really looking forward to the third installment of the Zelda series. The storyline turned out really good (although a little redundant near the end), with a major twist in the middle. Just when I thought it was finally over, a “big” twist in the story takes place and you realize just how insignificant Link seems to be. The story also gathered elements from the previous games as well, making Hyrule appear to have a rich cultural history. Like I said before, gameplay was re-engineered back to the style seen in the first game. Thankfully, like Crystals, movement was no longer restricted to a grid and use of diagonal movement was also available. A nice gameplay improvement was the ability to keep multiple items/weapons on hand by assigning them to the player’s choice of buttons. The game still required frequent use of the Inventory menu, but it was very easy to use and not nearly as redundant as it could have been. Some of the classic bosses returned, but mixed in with a good variety new ones. Unlike the previous game, this felt VERY much like a “Legend of Zelda” game.

Part 3: Mega Man X

The classic game gets a refit!

Part 4: Final Fantasy 3 (6.Jap.)

Part 5: Chrono Trigger

Part 5: The Rentals

Sim City, Super Ghouls and Ghosts, Final Fantasy II, Legend of the Mystical Ninja, Final Fight

Lemmings, Super Adventure Island, Super R-Type, ActRaiser, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, Joe and Mac, Super Metroid, Turtles – Tournament Fighters, Mega Man X2, Mega Man X3, and Super Mario Cart.

N64

Part 1: GoldenEye 007

Part 2: F-Zero X

Part 3: Star Fox 64

Part 4: The Legend of Zelda: Oceania of Time

Part 5: Star Wars – Rouge Squadron

Part 6: Star Wars – Pod Racer

Part 7: The Rentals

Mario 64

Mario Kart 64

PC Revolution

odo324: I still have more work to do, I know.

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Discussions

odo324: Hope this isn't too much. Wish I could date these, but I can’t remember the first half!